tenons on long/awkward pieces?

[Ken Platt]

Folks -

I need to tenon the ends of a couple of pieces of hard maple that are 6" wide, 60" long, 1 3/4" thick. Usually I do my tenons on the TS, either upright with a jig, or bigger pieces flat with a dado blade. These are just too big, so I'm thinking it's a bring-the-tool-to-the-work deal rather than the other way around. The tenon is to be 2 inches long, 5 inches wide, 5/8 thick.

I'm wondering how others would do such a tenon? My best idea so far is my plunge router, guided by either my cheapo edge guide on the end of the workpiece, or by a T-square jig. I considered hand cutting, but I don't have a great handsaw for this, and I am doubtful about my ability to cut straight enough.

I'm wondering if there's a better idea out there. Also, what type of router bit to get a clean edge on the shoulder?

It's going to be a through, wedged tenon. So if I'm a bit off on size hopefully I can correct that with a good wedge. And, these pieces are the beams for a trestle-style kitchen table, so probably not the area that will get the closest scrutiny when the table is done. So I've got a little leeway here on getting the perfect fit.

Many thanks -

Ken

[Terry Beadle]

I think you are right about bring the tool to the work.

If you have a bow saw or a ryobi, that is another option to get the bulk of the material out of the way. Another way is to use a freehand drill with a forsner bit and a vertical jig. The jig can be simply a 1 inch thick bored hole in a scrap piece of hardwood that you drill on the press to get the 90 degree accuracy. Just bore a series of holes with the jig/bit clamped to the tennon end and then finish any left over areas with a sharp chisel. Goes very quickly.

I do recommend a shoulder plane or a hand router to smooth the tennon faces but a sharp chisel will do the same.

[Kent A Bathurst]

Got a bandsaw?

then shoulder plane, or rabbet block, or chisels, or 80g achesive-backed paper on a block of wood, or all of them.

[Jesse Tutterrow]

I would go with a router with an Up Cut spiral bit. This bit pulls the wood chips up and keeps the cut clean.

I would sandwich the good board between two scraps so that the router has more stability. Use a scrap piece as a fence to get the shoulder cut, then switch to an offset base to hog out the rest.

I would cut it about 1/32 inch short and make a final pass so you get a smooth surface.

--Jesse

[Rod Sheridan]

How about a backsaw?

Make yourself a guide block to clamp to the wood and saw away.......Rod.

[Neal Clayton]

this is why radial arm saws are still useful ;).

i have the same issue with cutting dadoes on long window frame parts. got an old 1940s unipoint, problem solved.

[Philip Rodriquez]

Sounds like a great opportunity to practice some hand-skills. What does your plane situation look like?

Another option is to use a hand-held router, as others have mentioned.
The process is just like making breadboard ends.

Another option is to make a quick crosscut sled for your TS. With that said, that would take a lot more time than cutting them by hand.

The last option would be, imho, to use a BS. But that is just because I like the results I can get with a hand saw. Plus, the work piece will still need support and you will still need to clean the cheeks and shoulders. Therefore, I do not think it is a better choice over your TS.

[Dave Gaul]

How about a backsaw?

Make yourself a guide block to clamp to the wood and saw away.......Rod.


I like Rod's suggestion...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backsaw

If you do go the router way, use some scraps for stability like Jesse said...

[glenn bradley]

I'm all for the router and a hand saw on this one. Cut the shoulders with the hand saw (you can cut them fat and dress them in with a paring chisel or a choulder plane if you have one), c lamp a guide to the faces and route the cheeks.

[tyler mckee]

radial arm or bandsaw, clean up with rasp/sand paper/shoulder plane.

[Jon Endres]

Here's an example of a long, awkward piece - 22' long, 8" square, pine center bent post for a timber frame home. Need to tenon the top. I did eight of them for my house. I'm not a professional timber framer, but the technique did give me an excellent understanding of how to bring the tool to the work.

First - get your piece laid flat on a table, mark your piece length with a sharp blade, a marking knife or razor knife preferably. The idea is to use the slight groove from the knife cuts to guide a chisel (also preferably razor sharp). Make your depth cuts with a backsaw, or any saw really, you could even do it with a small cordless circular saw if you were careful. Want to be cutting on the tenon side of the line about 1/32" or so. You can then hog out the rest of the tenon face with the same circular saw, or a router set to depth. You can support your router with offcuts of the same thickness as your piece, that will give you accurate cuts. Following the depth cuts, pare your shoulder to the cut line by setting the chisel blade lightly in the knife groove and tap, tap, tap or even hand pressure, you want the tenon shoulder to be slightly 'concave' so that it sits firmly on the mortised piece. Easy to do, hard to explain. Picture the chisel sitting at about a 92-degree angle from horizontal, bevel and lean slightly toward the tenon end.

Make your tenon a bit thick/wide, you can pare it down carefully with a shoulder plane or sharp chisel afterward if you need to. Once you have one side done, flip it, do the other side, then do the same thing for the edges. It's easier to demonstrate it then to explain it, but it gets easier as you do it. I worked with two professional timber framers on my house, the first tenon took me close to an hour, by the time I was done, I had learned how to scribe the lines, make the cuts, and sharpen my tools; and do a full clean 4-sided tenon in about 12-15 minutes. Especially with a wedged tenon, you really need to be concerned only with a clean shoulder and faces. The width can vary, quite a bit.

Mortises and tenons used to scare the hell out of me, afraid to screw them up. After learning timber-framing with hand tools at a class at Conover Workshops in Ohio, it became much easier. I still wouldn't want to tackle a whole kitchen full of cabinets with mortise/tenon joints, but a half-dozen in a piece is fine. I find them easier to do with hand tools but the brute work, hogging off the waste, is best left to the power tools, I think.

[Frank Drew]

Add an auxilliary wood fence to your tablesaw crosscut guide and use your dado blades; five feet really isn't too long for that.

Of course, if you had a sliding table saw.... :D

[Brian Tymchak]

Add an auxilliary wood fence to your tablesaw crosscut guide and use your dado blades; five feet really isn't too long for that.

I plan to do this on an upcoming project with a roller stand to support the far end of the work.

[Michael MacDonald]

I just did this last week. I had to put small tenons on two bedrails in white oak--they are 5/4 with dimensions 7.5" x 73"... (I think). Very heavy.

First I tried to do it on the table saw... I clamped the piece to the miter, but it was just too heavy to move across the saw. So I ended up using a plunge router with a straight bit, and a fence clamped at just the right distance to guide the subbase. I had to clamp sacrificial blocks to the sides of the board so I didn't get tearout. It worked well.

Regards,
Michael

[Thomas love]

I vote for bandsaw. Crosscut the shoulders on t/s then use fence on band saw. I just did a bunch of these for my workbench.

[Don L Johnson]

Send me a PM; I've got an article from a 2/2001 Woodsmith that has a suggestion.

Don Johnson
DJohnson1@satx.rr.com

[Jason White]

Band saw?? Or router and a jig, I guess.

Jason


Folks -

I need to tenon the ends of a couple of pieces of hard maple that are 6" wide, 60" long, 1 3/4" thick. Usually I do my tenons on the TS, either upright with a jig, or bigger pieces flat with a dado blade. These are just too big, so I'm thinking it's a bring-the-tool-to-the-work deal rather than the other way around. The tenon is to be 2 inches long, 5 inches wide, 5/8 thick.

I'm wondering how others would do such a tenon? My best idea so far is my plunge router, guided by either my cheapo edge guide on the end of the workpiece, or by a T-square jig. I considered hand cutting, but I don't have a great handsaw for this, and I am doubtful about my ability to cut straight enough.

I'm wondering if there's a better idea out there. Also, what type of router bit to get a clean edge on the shoulder?

It's going to be a through, wedged tenon. So if I'm a bit off on size hopefully I can correct that with a good wedge. And, these pieces are the beams for a trestle-style kitchen table, so probably not the area that will get the closest scrutiny when the table is done. So I've got a little leeway here on getting the perfect fit.

Many thanks -

Ken

[Simon Dupay]

just use your tenoning jig, it clamps it in place.

[Josiah Bartlett]

How about using a floating tenon instead? You still have to make a mortise in the end of the piece, but it will be a lot easier to fit the show end of the tenon since it will be a little piece.